Pattern and guide strip



Jan. 5, 1943. R. s. KNIGHT PATTERN AND GUIDE STRIP 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1' Filed April 18, 1940 INVENTOR.

Ema 4420 5. (/v/6//T ATTORNEYS Jan. 5, 1943. I R s KNlGHT 2,307,593

PATTERN AND GUIDE STRIP Filed April 18, 1940 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY fix M W Patented Jan. 5, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PATTERN AND GUIDE STRIP Richard S. Knight,.New York, N. Y., assignor to Lockstrip Manufacturing Corporation, Long Island City, N. Y., a'corporation of New York Application April 18, 1940, Serial No. 330,272

2--Glaims.

Such pattern and guide strips, when laid,

although they are intended to define theedges of the several panels or sections making up ,a terrazzo floor and to sharply define the edgeof the pattern, design Or configuration in .which the floor is laid out, at times break away from the panel or section with which they are originally associatedand take a wavy or sinuous configuration in the fioor, often opening up along ,the edge of the terrazzo. Such objectionable relation between the panel or section of terrazzoandthe strip results apparently from anumber offactors, such as shrinkage of the terrazzo intheunderbed from the strip, and settlementof the building or fioor.

This invention overcomes such difficultiesan'd provides a strip, when used in a floor, which when laid according to this invention, remains an integral part of the panel or section of terrazzo with which it is originally associated, maintaining the exact line along which thestrip is initially=laid, defining the edgeof the pattern, design or configuration as predetermined when the floor ,is laid, providing a bond between the underbedand the terrazzo in their relation to the, strip itself, providing means for indicating the depth to which the lower portion of thestrip is to beinserted in the underbed and a measure for the depth of the terrazzo finish.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 Ba top plan view of part of a floor showing simple designs, having-a pattern and guide strip embodying this invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the strip; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;;Fig; 4 is a side elevation of the strip; Fig. 5 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 6 shows a modification of the type of strip shown in Fig. 2; Fig. '7 is a side elevation of the strip of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a top plan view thereof; Fig. 9 is a section on the line 99 of Fig. '7; Fig. 10 is a section on the line lD-lfl of Fig. 9, with the strip embedded in a finished floor.

The terrazzo fioor I consists of a cementitious underbed 2 carried usually on a concrete foundation 3 and provided with a superposed terrazzo underbed 2.

finish or layer 4, the underbed 2 and the terrazzo surface having associated therewith apattern and guide strip .5. The pattern and guide strip is made of suitable thin metal, such for instance as brass, in suitable lengths, for instance six feet, and approximately seven-eighths of an inch deep, inherently flexible and capable of being bowed, sprung and bent into various configurations to conform to predetermined designs. An outwardly extending member 6 in the form of a wing ;,is punched on three sides from the body of the strip and is bent outwardly at an angle to the face of the strip, remaining attached to the strip .along its upper edgeand'forming anwopening H in the face of the strip. The outwardly extending member is provided with a punched out opening 1 and preferably with two notchesfi ,extending inwardly on both side edges of the member 6. The member 6 between the opening 7 and the face of the strip is provided with an anchoring member 9 in the form of an upwardly extending lip-rising about one-sixteenth of an inch from the plane of the member 6. The

outwardly extending members 6 are formed ;on one side only of the strip, about every six inches along the face of the strip. Elongated openings I0 may also be formed in the strip if they are found desirable.

In laying a floor, the underbed 2 is first laid and when this bed has partially set but is still plastic the pattern and guide strips 5are forced into the underbed to a depth at which themembers 6 lie intimately in contact with the top of the These strips ,are laid according to a predetermined pattern, either plain or highly fanciful, it being understood that the strips beconsisting .usually of small chips of suitable marble, stones orthe like mixed with cernent, is

laid between ,the strips whichoutline each'pattern, design or configuration. The terrazzo mixture flows into the openings 7 and the notches 8, contacting and bonding with the surface of the underbed 2, thereby uniting the terrazzo layer with the surface of the underbed 2. The terrazzo layer also flows entirely around the anchoring member 9, the entire mass of terrazzo layer 4 extending from the top surface of the underbed 2 to the top edge l2 of the strip 5. The terrazzo stated, the members 6 extend outwardly all on the same side of the strip. When the strips are laid with respect to each pattern, design or configuration, they are so laid that the members 6 extend inwardly with respect to the particular panel, design or configuration with which the strip is to form the outline. Care is taken by the workmen to so arrange the strips that for each pattern, design or configuration the members 6 extend inwardly, and inasmuch as a strip outlining one side alsoseparates or defines a side of an adjoining panel, the adjoining panel will have members 6 extending inwardly on three sides only if the pattern is a four-sided figure. In other words, a strip common to two adjoiningv panels has members 6 extending into one panel but not into the other panel with which it is associated.

It will be evident that the underbeds for adjoining panels are united together through the.

openings II (and In, if the same are present) and that the terrazzo is bonded by a plug or neck l3oftheterrazzomaterial which extends substantially vertically through the openings 1. The terrazzo also engages against the anchoring memher 9 in its lateral course from one anchoring member 9 to the anchoring members on both sides thereof. The extent of the plug or neck I3 into the opening 1 to its bond with the underbed, and the engagement of the lateral run of the terrazzo with the anchoring members 9, is slight in depth at the actual surfaces of engagement (equal to the thinness of the metal of the members 6 or the height of the anchoring member 9) but, nevertheless, this engagement is sufiicient-- to secure a complete and continuous attachment, from member 6 to member 6, of-the entire strip, to the'terrazzo layer, even though the thickness of the metal forming the members 6 and the height of the anchoring member 9 is as little as two thirty-seconds of an inch. In fact, it is advisable that the presence of metal in the terrazzo layer be kept to a minimum, in order that the terrazzo layer should not be thinned out and make it subject to fracture or chipping.

It will be evident from the foregoing description that the anchorage of the strip in the underbed' 2 is firmly established through the openings I l, ensuring the strip against upward movement,

and that each individual panel or section of ter-Bo razzo is completely isolated, as far as direct physical attachment is concerned, from each adjoining panel or section and that the portion of the strip above the underbed 2 is anchored by the members 6 and 9 to the under surface of the terrazzo layer, the amount of penetration of these members into the under surface of the terrazzo layer being slight but, nevertheless, suificient to compel each strip in its full length to lie closely against the edge of the panel or section to which it is anchored and retain the position in which it is laid as its panel or section shrinks or settles.

A modification of this invention is shown in Figs. 6 to 10, in which the anchoring member 9 takes the form of two grooves or depressions I4, stamped into the top face of the member 6, said grooves extending from the corners of the members 6 diagonally inwardly and terminating at the outer edges of the openings 1. The terrazzo, when it is laid, will enter said grooves or depressions l4 and form extensions on the underside of the bed integral with the plug l3 which is formed in the opening I.

I claim:

1. In a terrazzo or like flooring having an underbed and a top layer, a pattern and guide strip comprising a thin, inherently flexible strip of tending on the same side thereof with the lower edge of the strip secured in the underbed, openings in the body of the strip beneath said members, portions of the underbed being within the openings in the body of the strip, openings extending through said members, portions of the top layer extending through said openings and bonded to the surface of the underbed, the portions of the members bordering said openings contacting said top layer on the lower surface thereof and anchoring the upper portion of the strip to said top layer, said members being provided with a lip extending upwardly from the plane of the members and the under portion of the top layer being in engagement with said lip and the lip extending upwardly into the under surface of the top layer.

2. In a terrazzo or like flooring having an underbed and a top layer, a pattern and guide strip comprising a thin, inherently flexible strip of material to provide a pattern for a terrazzo floor design, a plurality of members extending outwardly from the body of the strip and all extending on the same side thereof with the lower edge of the strip secured in the underbed, openings in the body of the strip beneath said members, portions of the underbed being within the openings in the body of the strip, openings extending through said members, portions of the top layer extending through said openings and bonded to the surface of the underbed, the portions of the members bordering said openings contacting said top layer on the lower surface thereof and anchoring the upper portion of the strip to said top layer, said members being provided with downwardly extending grooves, portions of the under surface of the top layer extending into said grooves, said top layer and said grooves thereby being anchored together.

RICHARD S. KNIGHT. 

